How did you get your foreign teachers?

anycram school owner out there with experience in finding/signing up people to work in your own cram school? im curious, as we have hit a limit student wise, and really need a couple of foreign teachers. we’re in taipei county and it’s not like white people walk off the train all the time. chinese teachers, we got, but need the face…know what i mean?

agents? kidnapping? blackmail? how’d you get yours?

thanks,

working way to much

[quote=“Wei? Is this on?”]anycram school owner out there with experience in finding/signing up people to work in your own cram school? I’m curious, as we have hit a limit student wise, and really need a couple of foreign teachers. we’re in Taipei county and it’s not like white people walk off the train all the time. Chinese teachers, we got, but need the face…know what I mean?

agents? kidnapping? blackmail? how’d you get yours?

thanks,

working way to much[/quote]

woooooo, I wouldn’t want to be around when a few more people read this one. “White people”, that alone is going to fry you around here. And I hope that you are joking about needing the “face”. I know I wouldn’t want to be a show pony.

That being said, pay me $100,000NT per month and I’ll be there tomorrow. :wink:

[quote=“Bassman”]
That being said, pay me $100,000NT per month and I’ll be there tomorrow. :wink:[/quote]

There are jobs here in Taoyuan paying that. :unamused:

if people have nothing better to do then flame me for the “white face” remark, thats ok, however it does not negate the reality of the situation. or is this board too PC to say, Taiwanese parents, particularly in rural places want blond or brown hair white people teaching their kids?

this has nothing to do with my personal feelings, and the original post was for other cram school owners, who im sure, face this very same dilema.

as for paying a teacher 100k…that teacher must be great or that school needs him or her very badly…and im sure he or she works for every dollar.

Bassman: you work up a hill in the middle of nowhere. How do you get normal people to want to come to your armpit to work ?

Wei: Where in Taipei County are you ? Have you tried posting in our classified ads ?

Having lived where Bassman is…most teachers there are hired through agents or know people that worked there previously. For this reason South Africans outnumbered other nationalities during my time there.

[quote=“Wei? Is this on?”]if people have nothing better to do then flame me for the “white face” remark, thats ok, however it does not negate the reality of the situation. or is this board too PC to say, Taiwanese parents, particularly in rural places want blond or brown hair white people teaching their kids?

this has nothing to do with my personal feelings, and the original post was for other cram school owners, who I’m sure, face this very same dilema.
[/quote]
If parents in your area are truly racists like you imply, you have no obligation to cater to their racism. Indeed, I would argue that you have a moral obligation to fight that racism. If the parents in your area all thought jumping off a cliff was a good idea, would you do it?

It’s not the skin color that counts, but the knowledge of teaching English. I’m sure you know this. But if the parents where you live don’t understand that, it’s time to teach the parents.

Sadly, actually for a lot of bushibans. It is skin colour and hair colour that matters. Often the foreign teacher is nothing more than a well-paid marketing tool.

It’s not racism. It’s business.

Wei, our classifieds are OK and generally produce 10 or so responses for jobs advertised in Taipei city. Make the ad informative and clear so that you don’t apear to be hiding anything.

An ad at tealit will cost you something like NT$1800, and usually produce about 60 responses.

In the past I have found that the majority of job applicants can’t be bothered sending cover letters explaining why they want the job, and are apparently unaware of the spelling and grammar rules you will want them to teach.

Calling them to interview can be even more depressing. If someone is unemployed, and isn’t fresh off the boat, then find out why. If they start bitching about a previous employer then don’t hire them.

Pay well, provide a decent environment, make no unreasonable demands, and you can be choosy. Be up front about any special considerations, but remember that few applicants actually read ads properly.

I have a friend who commutes to Shulin every day. I commute from XiZhi to Taipei. Your location needn’t be a problem, but you might consider helping out with accomodation.

Agents are generally no good, but you might try Steve Loi: 0919 522 249

thanks all for the common sense help. especially thanks for responding so quickly as i was writing a long sarcastic reply to the guy or gal who thinks im morally responsible for unbiasing taiwanese people, moreover, my cutomers. “sure, il teach yer kid, but you gotta like everybody with darker skin than your.”

they’re my bread and butta

[quote=“Matchstick_man”]Sadly, actually for a lot of buxibans. It is skin colour and hair colour that matters. Often the foreign teacher is nothing more than a well-paid marketing tool.

It’s not racism. It’s business.[/quote]
Well, it is racism. Pandering to clients’ racist attitudes in order to maximize business protential is still a form of racism. I personally would never engage in it even if it meant the ruin of my business.

I admire your ethics. However ethics often don’t work in the real world. If they did health workers would be paid more than athletes and movie stars. The same business sense applies in the movie industry that often applies in the teaching industry here in Taiwan.

I’ve missed out on jobs due to not having a North American accent. This is also due to business sense and what you would call pandering to clients’ attitudes.

chris, may i ask. What is your business?

Translation/writing/editing.

I have also worked in web development, and once turned a potential customer down because of racist content in his proposed website.

I would like to ask you a question. If your clients insisted that you use, say, bodily mutilation (which we’ll assume, for the sake of argument, is legal) as a discipline technique for their children, would you do it because your clients think it’s OK? Would you do it if they threatened to boycott your business and go elsewhere?

I’m not suggesting that you launch a campaign to rid Taiwan of racism. But I’m saying that if I were in your position, and a parent came up to me to complain about a non-white working for me, I would take that opportunity to convince that one parent, calmly and rationally, that there is nothing wrong with a non-white teaching children; that it’s not the color of one’s skin that counts, but one’s ability to teach.

[quote=“Matchstick_man”]I admire your ethics. However ethics often don’t work in the real world. If they did health workers would be paid more than athletes and movie stars. The same business sense applies in the movie industry that often applies in the teaching industry here in Taiwan.

I’ve missed out on jobs due to not having a North American accent. This is also due to business sense and what you would call pandering to clients’ attitudes.[/quote]
Yes, as they say, life is unfair. But why is life unfair? It’s because far too many people surrender to the unfairness instead of fighting to make life fairer.

first, the bodily mutilation analogy is outrageous, and a lame attempt at justifying your beliefs.

second, i have a larger responsibility to my school and students to keep it running and performing its job well: educating. I have an even larger responsibility to my employees to keep the school profitable and them well paid.

too many foreigners come to taiwan and think that simply becasue THEY have lived here for several years, that the taiwanese around them should have changed to suit the foreigner’s sensabilities and moral superiority. (that IS what your saying right?)

get over yourself.

and finally, you sound like you’re freelancing. great job. now start your own business with people you dont really know, from your own culture and from the local culture. When you try to make everyone do what you want them to do, even when YOU feel its morally right, despite what they think or have grown up thinking, you’re not a boss anymore…you’re something else entirely.

[quote=“Steeevieboy”][quote=“Bassman”]
That being said, pay me $100,000NT per month and I’ll be there tomorrow. :wink:[/quote]

There are jobs here in Taoyuan paying that. :unamused:[/quote]

Ok, for less than run yourself ragged hours. I’ll be there.

If it makes money and you don’t need to sell your soul, it’s ok.

Me, I’ve run a school for coming up on a year and a half, and boys and girls, I sold out. Sold my soul, so to speak, for a buck. To be honest with you, it doesn’t sit right anymore. The tempation is to leave the senior partner to it and walk away.

Yeah, I am serious, I’d take something somewhere if the job was good, paid 90 to 100K a month. I’d work my ass off, but I’d expect some time to spend with my family.

We found two teachers through forumosa and one through the China Post.

In many cases, it is the employer, sadly, who can’t be bothered to read the resume. They look at your picture (the ALL important picture! :unamused: ) and then make their decision.

I don’t know how many times when I’ve been called for an interview, in Asia, and arrive with high hopes, only to find out the employer knows absolutely NOTHING about my experience.

Maybe I’m just funny that way, but when somebody wants me to come in for an interview, I expect them to have at least glanced at my rez. Recruiters are the worst for this. You’ll specifically state where you want to teach, then they’ll send you jobs out in dickville.

Ah yes. Finding a decent job/employee is no picnic. But there’s plent of crappy jobs out there.